Which Great Philosopher Are You?
EDIT: I Forgot the link to this thing: Which Great Philosopher Are You?
Hrafnkell took Which Great Philosopher Are You? quiz and the result is John Locke
John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher. Locke is considered the first of the British Empiricists, but is equally important to social contract theory. His ideas had enormous influence on the development of epistemology and political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers, classical republicans, and contributors to liberal theory. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. This influence is reflected in the American Declaration of Independence. Locke’s theory of mind is often cited as the origin for modern conceptions of identity and “the self”, figuring prominently in the later works of philosophers such as David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant. Locke was the first philosopher to define the self through a continuity of “consciousness”. He also postulated that the mind was a “blank slate” or “tabula rasa”; that is, contrary to Cartesian or Christian philosophy, Locke maintained that people are born without innate ideas.
I have no problem following in Locke’s footsteps. I greatly enjoyed my exposure to him in college. I remember reading Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration. The one thing I knew for a certainty before taking this quiz was that I would not be Sartre!
And of course, thinking about all this brought to mind the Monty Python song (lyrics below):
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, [some versions have 'Schopenhauer and Hegel']
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.
There’s nothing Nietzsche couldn’t teach ya
‘Bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.
John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away–
Half a crate of whisky every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle.
Hobbes was fond of his dram,
And René Descartes was a drunken fart.
‘I drink, therefore I am.’
Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker,
But a bugger when he’s pissed.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson is the author of A Heathen’s Day, which since 2005 has addressed the life and thoughts of a modern day Heathen. He is also the founder of the Mos Maiorum Foundation (www.mosmaiorum.org) which is dedicated to the study and support of Paganism as ethnic religion and writes for PoliticusUSA (www.politicususa.com) 
I came up as Aristotle, with Wittgenstein a close second. This makes sense to me, as I’m basically an empiricist.
Unfortunately for me I have little knowledge in regard to the “greats”. I decided first to find out what kind of thinker I am in a different quiz – because yes, I need someone to tell me! lol Turns out I’m a social reform theorist (no big surprise there I suppose). Then I went on to the philosopher’s quiz though I think it was different than the one you took (couldn’t find the one you took – a link would be nice). But I got Marx. LOL Surprise! At least I know about him. *wink*
Hrafnkell, I’ve just been browsing through your various sites. How does one man have time to write so much?!
I particularly enjoyed your essay on interfaith dialog at The Rational Heathen.
@Erik, nothing wrong with Aristotle, even if he did misunderstand his master, Plato!
@Pom, apologies for not including the link. I’ve now fixed that and put it at the top of the post. Guess I was a little rushed when I made the post (which I did in about three stages – between interruptions).
@ I don’t have any free time – not much anyway. Writing is about all I do, and I’d do more of it if I could make the day longer.
The one thing you knew is that you wouldn’t get Sartre and that’s who I got. lol
That’s funny, Pom. I was just re-watching the old Monty Python sketch about the philosophy department in Australia – they tell the new faculty member that he’s free to teach existentialist thinkers as long as he makes clear that they are wrong.
Re: the Monty Python skit (telling the guy he can “teach existentialist thinkers as long as he makes clear that they are wrong”) — Best part of the skit!
I agree! I never liked existentialism, the idea that life has no meaning beyond the meaning we give it. To me, without the gods, that is emptiness.
Christianity seems to say that only their god gives life meaning, that people can offer nothing and existentialism (to me) seems to say the opposite.
I find myself in a middle ground (as usual). Yes, we can give life meaning, but I can’t take the gods out of the equation. Scenarios A and B above leave me chilled to the bone.
Ok I’m taking my existentialist ass back to my corner! lol
@Hrafnkell: I don’t know that I’ve ever fully considered it, but I would probably have to place myself in the middle ground as well. It’s not surprising — I am moderate in most things (love those shades of grey).
As I often refer to myself as a non-theistic polytheist (try it, it’s fun to say!), I would not say the Holy Powers are necessary to give life meaning, but their collective presence does indeed make life richer.
@Pom: You do that! Bad girl! Bad existentialist! LOL
@Brian: Yeah, it’s hard to describe exactly. I think it’s more for me that without them I couldn’t provide enough meaning on my own or that it would be somehow less meaningful. But it’s like, they are part of existence, as am I. It’s hard to picture me without them (from inside mys skull).
I got Plato.
Fine by me but then, most of the answers to the questions were not ‘exactly’ how I would have responded.
At least he had a mind that was not tainted by the ‘new’ religion!
Good job, Stu! It doesn’t get better than Plato…well, except maybe Plotinus…LOL
I agree with you with regard to the questions/answers. Any of these quizzes have that problem. But as you said, at least this was untainted by the new religion.